Review: Dark Matter

I’m ten minutes out from the end of this book, and I’m grieving. I’m fairly sure that this story was not meant to end already, and I can’t wait for Blake Crouch to write sequel upon sequel for us. I read this book FAR too quickly, and I’m sort of angry right now that it’s over.

There’s a quality to his writing that causes, for me, utter captivation. I read all three of the Wayward Pines books in two weeks’ time, and while that may not seem like an accomplishment, it is quite difficult for me to become so absorbed by a book. Dark Matter is no different. I forced myself to slow down in some spots because I didn’t want it to end, but then I got to a point where I just couldn’t hold back — I devourrrrred it.

On to the review – I will try to keep this as spoiler-free as humanly possible.

Jason Dessen is a dude living his life as many dudes do. As his life unfolded before him in a typical choice-making sort of way, those choices he made resulted in a path that might not have been the same had he gone a different direction. All normal. Sometimes we all wonder,

– “Hey, what might have happened if I taken that year off and gone backpacking in Europe?” – “What might my life look like now if I’d not been afraid of pre-med?” – “What if I had accepted his marriage proposal a few years out from high school, before he landed that main role in that huge movie?” (dammit)

Jason Dessen wonders how things might look different if he hadn’t made the choices he made to get to where he is today: husband, father, physics professor, home renovation non-starter. I didn’t get the feeling that he regretted any of his life, even a little bit. I think he had a healthy amount of curiosity. However, curiosity does kill the cat, and in this case Schrödinger’s cat carries the most relevance. Jason gets to experience the things he wondered about, even though it happens under duress.

I finished this book with a few lingering technical questions ricocheting around my noggin:
(please see Goodreads review for spoilery technical questions)

Overall, deeply satisfying book that I will recommend to everyone I know. Thanks for the ride, Blake!